Algebra 101

“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” –Jesus  (John 17:21)

All of creation testifies to the glory of God—even mathematics! During my algebra class last semester, I was amazed to discover spiritual truths hidden within the natural order of numbers. And why not? God created the rules and application of algebra the same as He created the stars in space and the hairs on our heads. Certainly, He loves to use every opportunity to teach us more about Himself, and when we pay attention, these opportunities are limitless!

One lesson in particular stood out to me: it regarded “Unity” or “Oneness”.

In algebra, one of the primary goals of mathematicians is to reduce a complex fraction of factors and numbers to its simplest form. For instance, picture the fraction: 5a72b(33c) over 34x41y3z. This fraction has no common factors. It can’t be reduced within itself because two or three or four or thirteen cannot divide evenly into all the numbers. This fraction can only be simplified—or, put another way, brought to “oneness” –through an external manipulation of some sort.

I believe that God sees the diverseness of the human race and the distinct differences of each human being the same way. Certainly, He created us as beautifully unique, so our complexity is not a bad thing! However, I Corinthians 12:12 says, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” Jesus desires a Church that is One with Him, yet the rifts and differences between Christians are often strong and sharp!

How then does the Lord bring “oneness” to His Church, His Bride? How does He make us one with Him and each other? In algebra, the Lord helped me to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about this transformation. Primarily, it is a covering of grace until we all reach the “perfect man” spoken of by Paul in Ephesians 4:13.

Using the algebraic example above, the Holy Spirit represents the mathematician who understands that numerator and denominator must develop common factors which make the differences insignificant. The fruit of the Spirit’s work is kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and love, which create a reciprocation of grace when developed in the lives of believers. The Holy Spirit births within each of us a “new man” made in the image of Christ. This new man, spoken of by Paul in Ephesians 4:20-24, is the common factor we all possess. In algebra, this means that 5a72b(33c) willingly multiplies to 34x41y3z. This creates a big long number that seems even more complicated, but the work of the Spirit, our mathematician, isn’t done yet. At the same time He is at work in us, He is at work in others. The denominator also accepts the same bonding process: 34x41y3z is multiplied to 5a72b(33c).

Here’s the amazing truth hidden within this simple procedure: When the factors in the numerator exactly mirror the factors in the denominator, they reduce down to 1. One on top; one on bottom. And one over one is simply: 1. Ephesians  4:4-5 says, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Jesus has created us equal in Him! He’s generated, by the power of His Spirit, a new man, which is our new nature, made like Him in us!!! (Romans 6:5, 8:29)

Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Does this Scripture mean we lose our uniqueness when the Holy Spirit performs His equalizing work in us? Not at all. Rather, our individuality no longer calls the shots. Through the power of the Spirit, we submit to His work of love in our lives, and we are able to lavish on others the kindness and grace which the Lord has given us.

Paul says in Philippians 2:1-3, “If there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

For a long time, I believed that this debasement meant devaluing myself, saying I wasn’t special or worth much. But that’s not what Jesus says. He says we’re each precious, the apple of His eye, cherished and beloved in His sight. (Zechariah 2:8, Isaiah 43:1-4) No, the equalizing work of the Holy Spirit is not one of demeaning oneself but of lifting others up, treating them with the same incredible value we experience the Lord giving us so that they might experience and believe His great love for them too.

Do I feel beloved and precious to the Lord? Then may I see others the same way! Do I experience the passionate, personal love of the Lord poured upon me as His beloved? (Song of Songs 1:2) Then let me be the friend who stands next to the Bridegroom and rejoices to see His passion for others! (John 3:29)

Did Jesus allow others to debase Him, surrendering His privileges as God Most High? Yes, He did. Then may I also have the humility to walk past the insults of people who wound me, whether knowingly or not, without retaliating against them but continuing steadfastly to love them. “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps…who when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.” (I Peter 2:21-24)

The Lord has called us to unity, and the equalizing factors He has offered us are the fruits of His own Spirit at work in our lives: forgiveness, peace, and mercy as well as blessing, joy, and love.

May our lives radiate the fullness of His glorious grace!!!

Divine Union

“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”

I Corinthians 6:17

At the beginning of creation, God designed marriage to illustrate a vital truth about His relationship with humankind: the loving fellowship, mutual service, and intimate fidelity between creature and Creator. The unity of two distinct items does not occur merely as an exterior bond, such as two lanterns glued together, but as a shattering of the glass that keeps each flame apart followed by a merging of the two flames into one. For the human soul united with the Triune God, this experience can be pictured as two hearts of flesh, soft and pliable, ripped into pieces by pain and suffering: the first, a human soul broken by the realization he or she can never be good enough or strong enough to be everything God requires; the second, Christ’s soul broken upon the Cross when He took upon Himself all the sins of the world. At the moment of divine union, all these hurting pieces are gathered together in the grace-filled hands of God then fused together into one new heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, the pieces intermingled to such a degree that every thought, every emotion, and every desire vibrates with love for the other.

As with every experience of God, divine union occurs only through sheer grace. No amount of ascetic piety, good deeds, vigilance, or temperance of heart and soul can merit divine touch or divine presence. God, by His very nature, is Love; therefore, He longs to pour Himself into every human soul. However, like an adulterous wife, each of us runs after other loves, and so He waits. He waits for us to come, broken, before Him, longing only for Him and for His touch. Brokenness produces humility, which frees a believer from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—all of which hinder the awareness and experience of God’s active presence in a believer’s life. God knows the moment when the soul is so depleted of all false, fleshly, and demonic loves that He is able to pour Himself utterly into the cavity of the believer’s heart, enabling the believer’s emotions and neurons to experience a pure and fulfilling mergence with the fullness of Love Himself.

Origen of Alexandria, one of the earliest Church fathers, perceived this passionate romance in the Song of Solomon. He wrote in his commentary, “It seems to me that this little book is…a marriage-song, which Solomon wrote in the form of a drama and sang under the figure of the bride, about to wed and burning with heavenly love toward her Bridegroom, who is the Word of God. And deeply indeed did she love him, whether we take her as the soul made in his image, or as the church…who has been joined to him.”

Indeed, the Bible is replete with analogies of Christ and His people being presented as Husband and Wife. The prophet Hosea utilized mystical language when he presented Yahweh’s passionate appeal to His people: “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her…. And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, That you will call Me ‘My Husband’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master’. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord” (Hosea 2:14,16,20).

For the New Testament believer, spiritual transference into the Kingdom of God occurs at the moment of salvation: accepting Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10). At that moment, this person receives the Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry out, “Abba, Daddy!” (Romans 8: 15). We become members of the Church, Christ’s bride (Revelation 21:7-8); yet Christ’s love is not limited to the whole. Instead, divine union occurs as a subjective experience within an individual because the Lord passionately pursues and bestows His loving grace upon each individual member (I Corinthians 12:27).

As a Christian struggles to overcome sins of the flesh and of the mind as well as demonic temptations, the covenant of spiritual marriage to God is much like the legal document signed by husband and wife. The covenant is solid and binding, declaring a legal truth: the two are a couple. Yet, as with every human marriage, acting as one takes time. Every decision made for the good of the other person, with a conscious awareness and desire to act in accordance with the spouse’s will, deepens the feelings of intimacy. Such degrees of intimacy also exist in a believer’s relationship with God.

Unfortunately, since encountering the Risen Lord is a subjective experience within an individual’s heart, some Christians believe the only way to be free of spiritual deception is to reject all mystical experiences. They believe spiritual unity occurs in heaven, apart from feelings, through a believer’s adherence to fundamental doctrine and Biblical morality. However, late Christian counselor Brent Curtis points out in his book The Sacred Romance, “Above all else, the Christian life is a love affair of the heart. It cannot be lived primarily as a set of principles or ethics. It cannot be managed with steps and programs. It cannot be lived exclusively as a moral code leading to righteousness.” Many Christians in both Protestant and Catholic traditions testify that God can be experienced through the senses and that He desires to reveal Himself in this way.

Bernard McGinn, professor emeritus at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, explains the lifeblood of mystics throughout Church history: “The mystic wants to penetrate to the living source of the biblical message, that is, to the Divine Word who speaks in and through human words and texts.”  Evelyn Underhill, a contemporary Christian mystic, summarizes the muscle tone of a mystic’s heart this way: “The Christian mystic therefore is one for whom God and Christ are not merely objects of belief, but living facts experimentally known first hand; and mysticism for him becomes, in so far as he responds to its demands, a life based on this conscious communion with God.”

TobyMac, a popular Christian pop/hip-hop singer, expresses divine union with beautiful clarity in his song Captured. Speaking of Jesus, he says, “Like blood in my veins, You’re my sustenance. The moment of trust, the ‘me’ becomes ‘us’, the ‘we’ become ‘one’. Your gift is my gust of wind ‘til we meet again. All I want to do is get into You. You’ve got me captured by Your love. All I wanna do is stay here with You. You’ve got me raptured. Can’t get enough!” Yes, Jesus is real, present, and powerful, and He disregards man-made religious boundaries. He is Himself, the Word of God made flesh, and He is above all human pride, fear, and prejudice. For a mystic, spiritual connection with Christ means that the unseen indwelling of the Holy Spirit develops into a deeply felt, conscious awareness of Christ’s interior and exterior presence.